Am I doing something Wrong?

[MexCrombie]

Hello everyone;

I have a 150 Gal tank and keep 6 discus and some other tetras in it, the tank is by no means overstock and even if it was I have a fluidized filter rated for 300 Gal, I change about 1/3 of the water 2 times a week, the tank is very well planted and all the potential toxins (ammonia and nitrate) are at 0. My concern is, 5 out of my 6 discus seem very happy and voracious, but one of them is always hiding and I have not seen it eat for the last 2 weeks, I'm worry that he may die. Does any one ever had a similar experience? What can I do to get him to start eating again? I hate to lose him since I have not had a death yet since I started with discus. Please advice and I will greatly appreciate it. thanks a lot in advance.

Saul

[DarkDiscus]

Saul,

There could be a LOT of things going on here. It's a big tank, but he could be getting picked on, which causes stress. He could be sick, which causes stress.

If he is really never eating and is always cowering, I would consider pulling him an placing him in a hospital tank to see if special attention and good food helps him perk up. You can also keep a better eye on whether or not he's got white, stringy feces and a case of hex or any other problems.

Keep a close eye on him.

Also, always remember this: You can do nothing wrong and still have a fish get sick. It's part of nature!

John

[RichieE]

Theres a chance hes at the bottom of the pecking order. If this is the problem takeing him out might just cause another fish to be at the bottom. Adding more fish ;Dmight help deflect some of the aggression to other fish. This solution has helped me and it sounds like you have the room. Its not uncommon to have one fish that doesnt do as well as the rest of the group. Rich

[MexCrombie]

Hi all and thank you for your quik replies;

I don't think he is getting picked on, but then again I have not seen him get pick on, I'm adding some new fish tomorrow and I hope this helps, he definately does not looks sick at all, I hope he is able to recuperate and tag himself to others. I'm really prying for him and hope he doiesn't die.

Thank you again, I will keep you posted.


Saul

[keno]

Hi SAul, I agree with John. I would pull him/her right away and put in hospital tank. Use salt and heat at 88 and feed live foods to get him going again. The longer the fish goes without food the harder it will be to get it to eat. I would use live foods right off the bat. My last resort with non-eaters has always been a merto treatment with high heat 92-94 and LIVE brineshrimp, this has worked for me at every time im at my last thing to do for a hunger striking discus.

Ken

[jeep]

Saul,

You're adding new fish tomorrow? I hope you have them in QT. Adding new fish to a tank where you may have a potential sick one is an invitation for disaster... Or you could bring in something that could harm the existing fish...

Brian

[Wolf]

I agree with Jeep. I would put those new fish in quarantine for at least 6 weeks if you haven't already. Preferably in a different room and don't use the same equipment on both tanks either because you can transfer diseases that way also. I would pull the sick fish and do as suggested also.

[MexCrombie]

Got it! Thank you all!

I think I need to keep the new shipment apart from the one I'm isolating, I use my Hospital tank as a quarentine also but I'm willing to get a new tank since I don't want to lose him. I'm up for the challenge. Once again, I don't see any sing of diseace on him, but why take chances.

Saul

[DarkDiscus]

Saul,

Hiding and not eating CAN BE a sign of disease, even if there are no other visible signs. If I had to lay odds, I would say it's stress from the other fish, but why take a chance? Quarantine your new fish, get this guy his own 20 gallon and seed it with filter media from your existing tank and see if you can get him eating again. It's also a lot easier to monitor your fish in a 20 gallon BB than in a planted 150 gallon!

John

PS. One other question - are any of the other fish in the tank showing signs of mating at all?

[jeep]

Saul,

I don't mean to seem pushy here, but you really should consider the advice of the people who sell the fish and QT them by themselves for up to 6 weeks, if possible.

Read this link from Cary of GLD:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=2980;st art=0

Just trying to help,

Brian

P.S. The reason I would consider this is because if you really do have a sick fish, the others may be sick buy just not showing the signs yet. Infection of all could be a possibility. Sorry if I mis-read what you wrote. Good luck!!!

[MexCrombie]

You guys have been so helpful, I would not dare to ignore you, my quarantine tank is ready for the new shipment, wich I was planning on doing anyway, I will stop by my local petstore on my way back home to get a new 20 gal tank a heater and a sponge filter to set up as a hospital for the one in my tank now. Once more, thank you all for all the great advice, i will keep you posted!

Thanks.


Saul ;D

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Saul:
Lol, It sure is nice to have someone ask for advice, listen to the answers, repeat it back and then follow it. I predict your learning curve with discus will be short indeed. ;D

Carol :heart1:

[MexCrombie]

It is nice Carol.. I hope to learn more, I've read a lot about them for the last 3 years but never had the time to keep them and I did not wanted to put any Discus thru that. I love the little suckers!

Saul.

[Richman]

I have one fish among a tank with 14 others that exhibits a similar behavior. Whenever I approach the tank, he hides in the plants showing stress bars and will not eat. The other fish come to the top to be fed. As long as I am near the tank, he hides and never eats. When I leave and watch from across the room, he will slowly come out, color up , and eat right along with the rest of fish. If I hadn't taken the time to sneak up and observe him from a distance, I would swear he never eats. The truth is -he just doesn't like me. Any time I have noticed a fish which is truly hiding all the time and not eating, I isolate him and treat him for hex. Ususlly, it takes a few days for them to start eating after the treatment. Live food would help. Discus are peculiar in their behavior and each fish is an individual. Take the time to observe and try to figure all posibilities.

[MexCrombie]

Well, the new shipment came in.. I isolated the one that was not eating in a little 15 gal H tank and raised the temp to 88F, I used tank water and a new sponge filter, I got a few of the filter media rings and set them around the new sponge and treated with Cycle, Since he is not eating much i hope this works, the new shipment looks great, they all are in my hospital tank for the time been, I hope they all survive. Thank you als for your tips. I'll keep you updated. ;D

Saul

[DarkDiscus]

Saul,

Looking forward to hear how your fishies do! Give that one guy lots of TLC and change at least 10 gallons daily, adding heated water and see how he does!

John

[MexCrombie]

John;

I noticed today that there is a thin film showing thru his Gills, he is not eating yet, what type of treatment should i do? Other than the salt and high temp. I'm sortof freakin' out, :scared: I really want to save him!!!

Saul

[Francisco_Borrero]

Saul:
It is hard to be sure what you mean by the thin film showing thru his gills, but all fish have a very thin and clear extension of the gill edge. When the fish is breathing normally, it usually does not show. When the fish is having very labored breathing (extending the opercula outward beyond normal extension), then the film shows. A fish gasping for air can even let see the bottom parts of the gill archs, and it such conditions they don't appear very red because they are not as vascularized as is normal.
Bottom line, I think your fish is gasping for air. If everything is okay in the tank (oxygen content, no ammonia, no nitrite, low nitrate), then I think your fish probably has irritated gills, possible due to parasites, most likely heavy fluke infestation.
I am not an expert and would love for others to comment on this last bit of info you are providing. If indeed flukes appears as a likely reason, then praziquantel is the medicine of choice.
By the way, you stated that nitrate is zero in you main (planted tank). That is very unlikely, almost impossible. Also, if the sickly guy has flukes, then all of them have them, it just they they overwhelmed him.
HTH. Good luck and cheers, Francisco.